On March 8th 2016 Halton Police responded to a report of a robbery at a Shoppers Drug Mart store located at 1011 Upper Middle Road in Oakville. A male entered the store and demanded prescription drugs from staff who handed over a large quantity of narcotics. The suspect then left the store without further incident.
Subsequent investigation resulted in the arrest of an Oakville resident who investigators believe is responsible for similar robberies in Oakville and Burlington.

Investigators also executed a search warrant at a North Oakville address and seized a large quantity of prescription pain killers, notably Fentanyl and OxyNEO or Oxycodone. Other items related to the robberies were also seized.

Halton Regional Police Service would like to remind the community, anyone with information on this or any other crime is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1 800 222-8477 (TIPS) or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.comor by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637 (crimes).

Another synthetic opioid has appeared and is making headlines. The drug is known as W 18. It’s a synthetic opioid 100 times more potent as Fentanyl. Reports from other jurisdictions state that W 18 is being found in pill form and marketed as Fentanyl or fake OxyCotin. Both Fentanyl and W 18 are powerful and highly addictive pain killers. Taken incorrectly, a single dose of Fentanyl can be deadly. With W 18 being 100 times more potent the loss of life increases exponentially.

The Halton Regional Police Service Integrated Drugs Guns and Gangs Unit (IDGGU) have been and will continue to monitor this trend closely. The IDGGU has advised they have not yet come across W 18. However, Fentanyl is still a high priority.

Halton Police have one recorded incident with Fentanyl. In 2015 two males were arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance – Fentanyl, after receiving reports of an unresponsive male lying on the ground.

When narcotics are misused, they can be extremely dangerous, even deadly. Please be cautious about what you are ingesting and for what reasons. Police are also reminding the public of the “Patch4Patch” Program – legitimate Fentanyl patients return their used patches to pharmacies to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.

Anyone with information on the possible emergence of W 18, un-prescribed use of Fentanyl or any other crime is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1 800 222-8477 (TIPS) or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637 (crimes).